Nobody in Twilight Town
by Ysavvryl
Summary: Something strange is happening to Roxas, but no one else seems to notice.  Potential alternate prologue to KHII.


This is another way the prologue of Kingdom Hearts II might have played out.

**Nobody in Twilight Town**

_Nobodies appear to have emotions…_

"We should promise to never forget about each other," Olette said, pushing her hair back behind her left ear.

It was a beautiful sunset from the spiral top of Sunset Hill. The scattering of clouds took on orange and pink hues as the brilliant sun disc made a final farewell to Twilight Town on this day. Around the four teens, the air had taken on a warm brilliance not of summer's heat, but of summer's colors. The stone monument, a smaller mock-up of the larger station tower, began to hum. It was preparing to turn on its lights, which would draw in brown moths and other nocturnal insects.

"Why should we?" Hayner asked, from where he was sitting on top of the rustic wooden fence. Behind him, there were the train lines that went from the beach line to a split track. One went to the town train station while the other… went somewhere. The leader of the quartet smiled at them, partly warm, but partly superior. "We know we're never going to forget, and that we'll always be friends. So why promise?"

The one girl of the group shrugged, slipping back into some shyness. "It's just a nice thing to do, I think. A promise is forever."

Pence but his hand to his chin, torn on some thought. "We would remember each other always," he said. "But then, it does seem nice." He looked to Roxas, hoping for some deciding vote.

Remember? Forget?

Feeling uneasy, Roxas ran his hands through the rough grass. He found one nice whole stalk, so plucked it. "If you make a promise, you must have the honor to keep it. Breaking a promise is terrible but when you keep it, it shows how strong the bonds between you are." He placed the blade of grass between the edges of his thumbs, then blew through the slight space left between. It made a buzzing squeal.

His friends laughed.

_The emotions of a Nobody are a ruse…_

Pence was grinning, holding some grand news to the point where his will was bursting. "Hey, did you hear? The candy shop finally opened today!"

Perking up, Olette grinned back. "Really? Great! I hope they have some candy bananas."

Roxas felt fuzzy in his mind all of a sudden. He rubbed his forehead, wondering what was going on. Certainly, this wasn't the first time it had happened to him. "Did she open her shop back up? I thought she was going to retire."

And again, his friends gave him a blank look. "Who are you talking about?" Hayner asked, lowering the red dart in his hand. "That candy shop hasn't been open all summer."

"But there was that older woman, and we helped find her cat a few days ago…" Roxas squinted off at the dartboard. It had been a cat, right? Or was it a boy's dog?

When he glanced around, they were all uncertain. Olette's lips trembled in some show of concern, as if she wasn't sure of something nice to say to him. Pence just looked utterly confused. And nearby, his best friend Hayner had a raised eyebrow, clearly wondering if Roxas was losing his mind.

Sometimes, Roxas thought that about himself. "That was about when I started seeing those white things…" the word just about escaped him.

There was a flash of a girl's face.

And there was that word. "The Nobodies."

Pence's confusion was soon replaced by his happy grin. "Do you want to go check out the candy store? I hear the new owner is real nice."

_When a person loses their heart to the darkness, they become a Heartless, endlessly seeking other hearts…_

They were like creepy dolls, Roxas thought. The Dusk Nobodies were a slender human-shaped white burlap sack with hardly anything for a face. One moment, they would creep about on tiptoe, hunting about like a horror show slasher. The next, they would go limp and curl about, only to lash out with surprising punches. And ordinary objects did nothing to them.

Thankfully, Roxas did have something that hurt them. Somehow. He didn't know how it hurt them when nothing else would, and he didn't know how in the world he had it. Or what it was. He had a name for it: Keyblade. And it was that, in a way. It was a giant key with an end like a crown and a link chain with a mouse charm on it. Although, Roxas wasn't even sure why he was sure it was a mouse charm. It was three circles, two small ones above a slightly larger one. For all he knew, it could have been a bear. But he just knew it was a mouse.

And it worked like a sword, more or less. Swords should have edges; blades should have edges. The Keyblade didn't. And yet, it was highly effective against the sly Nobodies.

They were sly. They would freeze time and ambush him. When others happened to be looking, they would slither away and go entirely unnoticed. And although the others of Twilight Town were nice when he talked about them, they also avoided asking about them and didn't seem to understand them. They explained things the Nobodies did with other things.

Sometimes, Roxas wondered if he was losing his mind.

Even if he was, he still had to fight the monsters.

_When a person of a strong heart loses heart, what the Heartless discards can become animated, coming into a life of its own…_

The waterfall reflected an uncertain blond haired boy. Roxas touched the water, breaking up the image. However, nothing came out of it this time. A few days ago, he had been attacked by a strange doppelganger shadow that had emerged from the falling water.

A few days ago?

Roxas looked over to Hayner, who was practicing with an imaginary Struggle club. Even though they were friends still, the other boy said that he would earn the championship from Roxas next summer. And yet, there was no argument.

Should there be an argument? A real fight? That felt right, and yet… it did not happen.

"Hayner?" Roxas waited until his friend (rival?) turned his way. "Summer vacation should be over soon."

He nodded. "Of course. We've only got a few days of summer left."

"It feels like we should be in school already," he said. His head got fuzzy again.

Hayner snorted at that. "Don't be so eager to get back there. Olette will be hassling us to finish the independent study assignment."

Assignment? Roxas looked back at the cool water coming down the wall. Moisture was beading on his skin. When he'd fought that strange shadow of himself, it had been in doing that assignment. Right? There had been lots of people who had helped them with that.

Which reminded him. "Doesn't Twilight Town seem quiet lately? There doesn't seem to be as many people around. Like… where's Pence?"

"What do you mean?" Hayner asked back, putting aside his imaginary practice to come over to him.

The fuzziness of Roxas' mind grew sharp. If his friend was missing… shouldn't he be upset? He put his hands to his head, hoping the dampness might help. "I don't know…"

"Hey." Hayner grabbed his shoulder, shaking him a bit. "You getting those headaches again? Come on, I'll walk with you back home. You should rest."

Rest and dream strangely.

_Nobodies are the discarded remains that some Heartless leave behind…_

Twilight Town was very quiet. A girl's happy laughter could be heard echoing through the winding streets as she played with a large colorful ball. In the marketplace, a handful of customers spoke with the item shop owner. That shop was the only one operating, as the other owners and clerks were not around for some reason.

But no one seemed to really notice but Roxas.

Slumping down to rest his arms on his knees, he sat on the edge of the sidewalk looking down at the pavement. He felt exhausted. His nights were filled with strange dreams of some other… other? Sora. And himself. But strangely, he remembered those dream events. And he didn't remember them. Roxas couldn't explain it. More often then not, it felt like these waking hours were being invaded by his strange dream hours.

And there were the Nobodies. More and more appeared, attacking him and only him for some ungiven reason. The Dusks did not speak, yet they sought to confuse. Roxas was very confused. And very exhausted. His body ached from the battles. This was nothing like the yearly Struggle match.

While there were more and more Nobodies, the people around him seemed to be less and less. The streets of Twilight Town were strangely empty. Why was that? Why was any of this happening? Maybe he was losing his mind.

But something told him that the phrase 'losing his mind' wasn't correct for this.

_Nobodies are cunning but cold, as they have no hearts…_

"Hayner! Hey Hayner!" Roxas tried to smile, but his body and mind were dragging. Come on; for his friends, he should smile. But then where was…? "I brought the ice cream this time."

He seemed distracted for a bit, then looked over to Roxas. Hayner nodded… then his body seemed to melt. After he lost his features and colors, he reformed into a strange boneless white human-like sack. A Dusk Nobody.

Dropping the cooler with the ice cream, Roxas stood there in a blank shock. Now they were taking over the bodies of his friends and neighbors? Then he felt a sharp determination. He had to save his friend. Perhaps defeating this Nobody quickly could get Hayner back. Summoning the Keyblade into being, Roxas ran right for the Dusk. At the last moment, he slide around the Nobody, causing it a moment of confusion. That left it wide open for attack.

_Nobodies are heading for some goal, but we cannot tell what…_

Roxas entered the usual spot, hoping to find his friends. Perhaps they could play darts. Mostly, he was looking for a distraction. But in the strange and growing silence of Twilight Town, it was hard to find distractions.

Olette was there, looking over some notes she had written. She sat in the old couch that she and Pence always shared. However, he was not there. Neither was Hayner.

"Um…. Olette?" Roxas slowed his steps, dreading to receive the usual blank response. "Where's Hayner and Pence?"

Silence. The girl clenched her notebook. Then, she looked to him, but not in blankness. She looked to him in fear. "It's you."

In the confusion, his mind went fuzzy again. "Huh?"

Olette got up. "It's you. We were all content here, safe. But then you… came… and were here always. Everyone came and was here always; when they go, they were always gone." She looked off to the dartboard. "Lots of people have gone, I think. But I cannot know. There are clues in my notes, and yet, some of those clues are stolen."

Only he was seeing the Nobodies.

_Nobodies do not exist._

Olette gripped her notebook to her chest. "You're the same and different, somehow. You talk to others and make them think, inspire them to do things. Think. And then they realize… something's missing. Something's not right. But then… they go and are always gone."

_Nobodies should not exist._

She pointed to him. "You make us realize that something is missing. And then…"

Olette melted and became a Dusk.

_There is Nobody in Twilight Town.  
_

_

* * *

A/N: I really should finish Kingdom Hearts II, shouldn't I? hehe. So please don't get mad if I messed something up; I don't know the massive background history yet. I wrote this because I was having such fun with KHII and I adore the original, but the prologue struck me as odd.  
_


End file.
